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By Wellington C. Ramos

When President Barack Obama defeated John McCain for the presidency of the United States, many Americans believed that it was because he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate for vice-president. Even up to today, some feel that if he had picked another person he would have won the election. I believe that it would not have made any difference because people were tired of eight years of George Bush Jr. and the Republican Party.

Born in Dangriga Town, the cultural capital of Belize, Wellington Ramos has BAs in Political Science and History from Hunter College, NY, and an MA in Urban Studies from Long Island University. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science and History

John McCain is a war hero and a true conservative Republican politician without any question. When he supported immigration and campaign finance reform he angered many of his Republican colleagues. He wanted immigration reform because the state that he represents, Arizona, borders Mexico and many undocumented immigrants live and continue to come into his state.

Campaign finance reform is still a problem plaguing the politics in the United States because big money has taken over our politics. Yet, despite the opposition by many of his conservative colleagues, he won his party’s nomination on a second attempt and became the presidential nominee.

Mitt Romney was a conservative turned liberal to moderate when he ran for the governorship of Massachusetts and then a conservative when he is now running for president of the United States. The Republicans do not trust him because his political ideologies have changed too many times and they just do not know where he stands on most of the issues they feel strongly about.

When John McCain ran against President Barack Obama the issues were different. Today, the main issues are unemployment, domestic, economic issues, trust and likeability. On all of these issues the president beat Mitt Romney badly because they see him as a person who can more relate to their experiences and situations. With the unemployment rate the way it is now, people from all ethnic, class and socioeconomic backgrounds are affected by it and Mitt Romney’s statement that 47% of the people who support President Obama live on handouts was totally disrespectful to them and that will put a nail in his coffin.

They already felt that he did not care about them before he made this statement and when he made it that was all they needed to confirm their suspicion. Many of the statements Mitt Romney has made, John McCain would never have made because he chooses his words carefully and knows the impact statements can have on his politics and character.

With all the credentials McCain possessed, he still lost the presidency to President Barack Obama because many times in politics it has to do with the time that a candidate chooses to run for political office. In the Republican Party today, the Tea Party is exerting a lot of influence over Mitt Romney. Which was something they tried to do when John McCain was running for president but he did not allow them to manipulate him. He saw them as a dangerous group of individuals who will destroy the Republican Party.

The concerns that I have outlined were well articulated by Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich during the Republican primaries to represent their party for the presidential race.

Americans have begun voting for the president of the United States already and most of them like myself have already made up our minds as to whom we are going to vote for. Some people may be waiting to watch the debates before they decide on who they will vote for but that is a small group. This election is for President Barrack Obama to lose and from the way his campaign is going they are not working towards defeat but victory.

Some Republican candidates running for the House of Representatives and US Senate are beginning to avoid Mitt Romney for fear of losing their current seats in congress. The Republican Super PACS are also diverting their funds from the presidential campaign into House and Senate races that are close nationwide. When this election is over, the Republicans will blame Mitt Romney but they need to restructure their party and make it more inclusive to include all of the ethnic groups in the United States and not just whites, conservatives, neo-conservatives, the wealthy and the Tea Party members.

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D. Markie Spring:

True!

However, can you share your idea as to why Obama performed badly in the first debate?